Interruption
by MyPalletshippingLove
Summary: Palletshipping. Sequel to Intermission. (Tracey's POV). Tracey Sketchit's life is calm and perfect: he has a dreamy girlfriend, a job he loves and a true best friend but when someone wants to make an exhibition of his pokémon drawings, and his best friend's relationship is threatened; Tracey needs to keep calm and act before his life turns into one of the horror movies he loves.
1. Chapter 1

**Interruption – Chapter 1**

 **Before Tracey starts telling you the story (which I hope you truly enjoy), I would like to thank everyone who read Intermission (the first part of this story, told from Gary's point of view; in case you are here and you haven't read it, you can find it in my stories, it's not that necessary to read it because in this first chapter, Tracey kind of makes a summary of that story from his point of view, however it may represent some loss of information because Intermission was told from Gary's point of view and if you want to learn the full story with all details, I strongly suggest you to read it first).**

 **I also want to thank those who added the story or the author to their favorites and to those who left their reviews, especially "AshxGary" (I have to say, I loved all your reviews, you made me tear and smile more than once, thank you), "nosoyashe", "Day loves music j", "XxAzelfxX" and "Happy Diamond" who read the story as it was being published chapter by chapter.**

 **When I finished Intermission, I wanted to make a sequel but I had to publish Intermission first and see how it was received before going on, and thanks to all of you, this sequel was born. Interruption is told from Tracey's point of view, I know that this may sound odd or weird because you would ask "What does Tracey have to be with Palletshipping?", well, it was a challenge I set up for myself, to write how Gary and Ash's relationship might influence others around them, and you will see how it affects Tracey's life!**

 **So, without further ado, I leave you with Mr. Tracey Sketchit, I hope you enjoy his story told in the following 6 Chapters (and there might be another sequel next if you like his story!).**

* * *

Here I am, watching some television as my work-free week has just begun (not that I mind working anyway, it doesn't even feel like a job). I've been having this crazy obsession over the Resident Evil movies lately (and I'm looking forward to play the videogames too), I've been so excited I even pushed my best friend into watching the first movie with me, even if he is an easy to scare guy. I am just in love with Milla Jovovich (don't tell my girlfriend, please!).

My name is Tracey Sketchit and I'm currently living in Pallet Town, here in the Oak Manor (I know that Gary and professor Oak call it a mansion but c'mon, Oak Manor sounds cooler than Oak Mansion, besides, I have a little crush on Lara Croft too and you know, she lives in the Croft Manor and that).

And yes, I work here in the Oak Manor, I am the personal assistant to the great professor Oak (even if he insists that I should call him Samuel, I just can't, he is the grandfather of my best friend and I would feel weird calling him by his name). What do I do as his PA? Well, I help him with his research on pokémon, their characteristics and behavior in the natural environment. I've learned so much with him, and I've gotten the chance to draw dozens of different pokémon!

Yes, I like drawing, Gary even tells me I am an artist. I don't really think I have that much of a talent. Right now, I have a couple of notebooks full of drawings from around 350 different pokémon from the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh regions. I still haven't had the chance to go to Unova, Kalos or Alola but I'm looking forward to that too.

But as much as I love my job here, it's my best friend who makes my stay in Pallet Town amazing. Gary and I have been best friends for a couple of years, he is the person I trust the most (and I'm very happy to say that it's the same vice versa), it was him who gave me the courage to confess my feelings to the girl I fell in love with, Misty; and now I'm very lucky to have her as my girlfriend of almost a year!

As I'm ready to watch Resident Evil 4 (I bought all the movies in DVD and I'm going to watch the last one when it comes to the movie theatre), Gary enters the mansion with a very big smile on his face. He looks radiant.

"Well, hi there!" I smile as he approaches me, he sits next to me, speechless but his smile is still there and I bet it won't disappear for long.

It's about 10:00am, Gary's been out since very early in the morning.

"For someone who just left his boyfriend in the port, you seem extremely happy" I say with a lot of curiosity on my mind.

Yes, I said boyfriend, and in case you were still wondering (I don't think so but I must clarify), it wasn't a mistake, Gary is gay and I'm totally cool with it, I just don't care who he decides to love as long as he is happy. And man! He looks extremely happy right now.

Just days ago, he wasn't sure if Ash (now his boyfriend) would feel the same about him (Gary had had these feelings for Ash for a long time), and I didn't know much about the details of how they had started their relationship, Gary and I haven't really had the time to talk about it (but I'm sure we're going to talk a lot about it very soon).

Everything had happened so quickly, so fast, just two nights ago, when Ash came to the Manor while I was watching Resident Evil 3:

"Ash!" I exclaimed as I opened the door, surprised. I was alone in the living room, watching the movie I had left on pause, and Gary was in his room (and professor Oak had left for a couple of days for a science congress).

"Hi Tracey" he gave me a weak smile "is Gary around?" now his voice sounded weak.

Just the night before, Ash's mother had made this incredible dinner for all of us to welcome Ash back from the Kalos League, where he won the second place. Misty, Gary, professor Oak, and I were there. Misty and I had spent the whole day trying to find a new wardrobe change for Gary (ok, mostly Misty, I was just carrying bags around the mall). Yes, Misty knew about Gary's feelings too and she was determined to make him look astounding for dinner, so Ash could see how handsome Gary was and luckily, fall in love with him.

Gary was really nervous, he hadn't seen Ash in a couple of years and the first thing Ash did when he saw him again was to give him a big hug. I could tell Gary was melting inside and the evening was promising, but as dinner went by, Gary was mostly quiet (yeah, he was super nervous sitting beside Ash) but then Ash mentioned a girl, one of his companions, and he started to tell us a story, I had a bad feeling about that… and I wished I had been wrong all along but then Ash was very excited to tell us that girl had given him a surprise goodbye kiss. And that's when Gary left dinner abruptly, I know he was heartbroken, shattered.

I had followed Gary to the cold streets of Pallet Town and we had our first of a couple to follow small fights, and I had to promise Gary I would lie to Ash about his reason for leaving. When I got back, Misty told me that the girl had kissed Ash on the cheeks and not on the lips like every one (especially Gary) had thought. And I could see Ash's face become a little sadder after Gary's departure. I could tell he felt responsible but I knew he didn't have the slightest idea of why.

So, the following day in the morning, Ash, Misty, and I went to Cerulean City (Misty's hometown). We had invited Gary (Ash had insisted Misty and I to tell him to come, mostly because he felt guilty somehow that Gary had left dinner, but neither Misty nor I could convince Gary to come). Ash was mostly quiet during our visit to the city (which was not normal because Ash used to be a chatterbox, especially about anything pokémon related). And well, Misty and I had traveled with him in the past and that day felt nothing like the old days together, Ash was sad and we knew it.

The thing was… Gary didn't want to see Ash because he was afraid he would confess his feelings to him and ruin the friendship they had, because they had been friends since they were children, Ash was Gary's oldest friend and I think the same backwards, even if they hadn't talked that much to each other the last couple of years.

Gary was wrongly convinced that one day he would forget how he felt about Ash and see him as only as a friend. But in matters of love, you know you can't do that. Misty and I wanted to do everything but we were hopeless, we had tried talking Gary into his senses but it hadn't worked.

So, then Ash was standing in front of me at around 2:00am asking me to talk to Gary. Of course, Gary was around, this was his house and it was really late, where else could he be? Gary was not the type of person to be out of his house after 10:00pm. That felt like the last chance I had for Ash to talk to Gary and them to make things right, so I didn't care Gary was sleeping, I didn't care Gary told me he didn't want to see Ash, because I knew that wasn't the truth at all.

"Yeah… he went to sleep around 2 hours ago," I told Ash.

"Right" he smiled awkwardly "I don't know why I thought he'd be awake at this time of the night, I should have called instead of coming" he sounded regretful, his face looking down as his hands were inside his pockets.

He had walked all the way from his house to the Manor in the middle of the night (about 15 minutes). Ash really cared about Gary, maybe not the way Gary would have wanted, but Ash did care for him and that was the most important part, so I let him in.

"Come in, it's late and cold".

"Thanks" he half-smiled and just stood there next to the stairs.

"You should go to his bedroom, Gary has insomnia so he probably is awake right now, he's probably reading" I lied, just to push him forward, I felt he needed it.

"Really?" he turned and asked me with surprise.

"Yeah, just go" I smiled "his bedroom is the last one in the third floor".

"I… um… thank you, Tracey" he took the stairs and disappeared before my eyes.

I went back to my movie and I finished it around 3:30am (spooky if you believe in those things about the gates of hell opening from 3:30am to 3:45am), but I wasn't scared, that's why I loved scary movies so much, because they didn't scare me.

Anyway, I guess I hadn't noticed Ash had been in Gary's room for almost 2 hours, but I went to bed questioning myself what they had been doing, sure they had a lot to talk about, but I just wondered if my man had just scored.

Surely, the next morning I went to Gary's bedroom… and Ash was still there! Omigod, I couldn't believe it, I was so excited! My best friend had finally slept with Ash! Okay, maybe it wasn't like I had thought before I went to sleep hours ago, Gary told me Ash had just spend the night and that they had slept together (with clothes on, he clarified) but he told me they had kissed, omigod!

I was extremely happy Ash and Gary were finally together, and I had lots of questions to ask right then, but I wanted Gary to be comfortable and I told him he should spend the whole day with Ash… and that's what they did (they even spend the night together in Gary's room, draw your conclusions just like me).

So, this morning they left very early because Ash had to take a ship to Alola, where he would be the next 6 months. Ash is a pokémon trainer and he is constantly traveling around the world, searching for new adventures, as I said, I even once traveled with him and Misty to the Orange Islands, that was like an eternity ago, and that was when I started to develop my feelings for Misty; anyway, he was now off to another region and I thought Gary would be sad, that's why it was so surprising to see him this happy.

And there he was now, sitting next to me, all smiles, and no words coming out of his mouth yet.

"I'm so happy, Tracey" he finally said something.

"I'm really happy for you, bro" I gave him a quick hug.


	2. Chapter 2

**Interruption – Chapter 2**

Sure, Gary and I had a long talk about him and Ash (Milla had to wait, I'd probably watch the movie at night anyway). And just to inform, in case you were curious, yes! Ash and Gary had done it the night before! That's all I'll say, he's my best friend, you know? I can't reveal all his secrets to you but I'm sure you'll keep it just between us, right?

After we were done talking, we ate together, I usually made breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us (including professor Oak), but today Gary offered to help me, and I enjoyed his help. We made chicken salad and it was delicious!

After we cleaned up the dishes and store the remaining salad in the fridge, Gary yawned a little "Well, I guess I'll just go take a nap, I haven't slept that much since last night" he smiled and blushed a little, I knew what he was talking about.

"Sure, hey, the Pallet Town's Fair is opening tonight, what a shame! If only Ash could have left tomorrow" I sighed a little sad.

"I know" but Gary was still happy, I knew he was confident his relationship with Ash would last and that there'd be more happy moments in the future, and so was I!

"Anyway, I invited Misty and she's coming, do you want to join us?"

"I'll be very happy to, yeah" he smiled again, taking the stairs to his room.

"Gotcha! See you around six."

"Gotcha!" he laughed a little and he disappeared before my eyes.

I had the rest of the afternoon to relax myself, I considered trying to watch the movie but the idea of watching it at night, with Misty, appealed me more. I was about to go grab my notebook from professor Oak's lab and go out to the forest between Pallet Town and Viridian City, to draw some pokémon, but suddenly the mail came and I had to check it first before leaving.

I know it was around 2:00pm but the mail just came this late in Pallet Town, and we were just used to it anyway. I grabbed the mail from in front of the door where I heard it falling moments ago and saw nothing out of ordinary: some invitations for professor Oak for more science congresses, the water and electricity bills, some free scientific magazines for professor Oak and even one for Gary (who was slowly but surely entering the science world just like his grandpa but in a very different type of research) but the last piece of mail was a letter addressed to me… "Tracey Sketchit" it said.

I never received mail, so this totally caught my attention, it didn't seem like a letter from my parents (and why would they send me a letter anyway? They could call). Anyway, that's when I saw the logo of Viridian City's Museum on top of the envelope.

"What would the Museum want from me?" I asked myself, walking to the dining room, leaving the rest of the mail in the usual spot and taking a seat. I opened the envelope and took out what it seemed like a letter, and I started reading it.

* * *

 _25 Central Ave_

 _Viridian City, Kanto 05672_

 _September 5_ _th_ _, 2016_

 _Mr. Tracey Sketchit_

 _Hello Mr. Sketchit, on behalf of the Viridian City Museum, I want to inform you that we are very interested in creating an exhibition of your work, here in one of the halls of the museum. A special friend of yours sent us a couple of pieces of your work last month and our experts have been reviewing it ever since and I can only say they are delighted, we are delighted. If you are interested, please come personally so we can discuss the terms. Please bring all your complete works since our experts believe there is more of you than the few pieces of work we were sent. I am waiting to hear from you._

 _Sincerely yours._

 _Lina Hudson, museologist._

* * *

Lina Hudson? You've got to be kidding me! She is the museologist (the person who designs, organizes, and manages the exhibitions in a museum) of Viridian City Museum! And she wants to display my work in an exhibition! This has to be a joke! No, it is not! This letter was written and sent just today! I can't believe it! This is like a dream come true!

After running around the manor like a crazy guy (but can you blame me? Lina Hudson wanted to show my work to the world!) I made myself a cup of tea and sat down on the couch.

Should I go right now? Would it be the best time to go? Or should I go tomorrow? If I go today, would I seem so desperate? But if I go until tomorrow, would they think I lost interest? Hundreds of questions torment me but the one that is most important suddenly hits me: Which special friend of me sent a copy of a few pieces of my work to the museum? I knew the answer, it was obviously Gary, he has access to my notebooks that I keep in the lab. Oh man! I have the best friend in the whole world! I love my man!

So, after relaxing a little bit, I decided it was best to go tomorrow, first time in the morning. But I was sure I would not be able to sleep at night, thank God Misty was going to stay in the manor, maybe she would get me tired enough to fall asleep despite being so nervous for the meeting with Lina the next morning.

Surprisingly, I went to take a nap, I had lots of things to handle right then and I knew sleeping was going to put them in order in my head. I slept almost three hours when I saw the clock next to my bed, it said 4:50pm. Misty would be here around 5:30pm so I took a shower and got dressed and it was 5:10pm when I walked down the stairs to the living room, with my cellphone on hand, waiting for her call (because I was picking her up at Pallet Town's bus station).

And just when I took a seat in the couch, I realized that my life was perfect at that precise moment: I had a gorgeous wonderful girlfriend who loved me just as much as I loved her, I had the best friend in the world, I had a job that I loved, and Lina Hudson wanted to make an exhibition of my pokémon drawings! I couldn't help but smile, even more than Gary that morning.

My cellphone rang and I couldn't keep my smile from showing.

"Hey babe" I said, knowing it was Misty.

"Hey!" she said with enthusiasm from the other side of the line "you seem happy" she said curious. Even on the phone line, she could tell my tone was happy.

"Yeah, it's just cause I'm going to see you today" I smiled, I knew there was more but I wanted to tell her those things in person.

"Damn" she said in a low voice, sounding regretful.

"What's going on? Is everything alright?" I asked a bit afraid, my smile gone.

"It's just that, I couldn't make it to the bus on time, and I'm sorry I'm calling you this late, I know you know the bus I was taking was supposed to leave at 4:00pm, it's just that…"

"Hey, that's okay, I understand" I said noticing her nervousness.

"I can still catch the 6:00pm bus and be there around 7:30pm if that's not much trouble."

"Yeah, it sounds great, besides the fair is opened all night and if we get there around 8:00pm, it wouldn't be much of a trouble."

"Thank God!" she sighed "well, I better get going, I'll call you when I arrive at the station, okay?"

"Sure, baby, I love you" I smiled again.

"I love you too" I knew she smiled when she said that.

Despite her going to show up a little late that night, I had a gorgeous wonderful girlfriend who loved me just as much as I loved her. However, it was unusual for Misty to show up late to well… anything.

Maybe I'm just overthinking things. Before I decide what to do to spend my free time for the moment, I catch a glimpse of something through the window of the living room, I'm curious so I go out of the manor and look around, the sky is clear and the streets seem pretty much empty. But just when I think of going back, I see a beautiful pokémon I've never seen before in person, it has beautiful white fur and a dark blue body: right in front of me an Absol passes by.

I look at the sky again, I once heard while in Hoenn that Absol can sense even subtle changes in the sky and the land to predict when a natural disaster will occur, and will try to warn people when one is approaching, so Absol is often related to back luck. But one: the sky is clear and the most important thing: Absol is a Hoenn-native pokémon, why had I just seen one here, in Kanto? It makes no sense.

Maybe one unlucky trainer lost that Absol I just saw, or maybe that Absol was running to find his or her trainer. That's the most logical explanation, so I get back to the manor and just to be sure, I watch the weather forecast on TV and it says that the rest of the week will be sunny and warm…


	3. Chapter 3

**Interruption – Chapter 3**

"Oh my God!" Misty exclaimed, red cheeks, super excited after Gary told her how he and Ash had finally ended up together. Gary's face blushed intensely after seeing her reaction. We had just left the Ferris wheel, where Gary had summarized his story as we made our way slowly, to the top and down like five times.

"Yeah" Gary couldn't say much, he was looking down to the floor, his hands into his pockets, he was trying to hide the blush and his silly yet lovely smile.

"I'm so happy!" Misty exclaimed "did you guys…?" she didn't formulate the full question but Gary of course knew what she meant (and maybe everyone around us too because let's say that Misty's voice isn't that low).

Gary's silence pretty much said the answer to that incomplete question was a yes.

"Omigod!" she burst into an excitement so strong I had never seen before in her (don't worry, it wasn't a bad thing but I still felt a little jealousy she was more excited for Ash and Gary at that moment than for me and her… oh, c'mon, I admit I reacted pretty much the same when Gary told me everything that morning with full details, yeah, the benefits of being the best friend).

He still didn't say anything, he was so embarrassed! It was a side of Gary I had only seen a few times before but I must say, it was a very charming side of him.

"You have to tell me everything!" she exclaimed grabbing him from both his shoulders.

"Cut it out, Mis! Let the guy breathe" I laughed.

"Thanks, Tracey" Gary sighed, feeling more relaxed.

"Alright, but you won't escape from telling me all the details, Oak" she gave him a wink.

"What do you say we go to the roller coaster next?" Gary suggested embarrassed enough to change the topic of the conversation.

"Sounds good" I agreed.

As we made our way to the roller coaster, we were lucky there were not too many people in line. Gary took a seat in the last row while Misty and I took the seats in the first one, he didn't mind sitting alone without us.

"Is he going to be okay?" Misty asked with a little worry on her face, looking behind but all the people didn't allow her to see Gary.

"Yes, he'll be fine" I smiled.

"Still, I'm glad to have a few moments alone with you" she laid her head over my shoulder and grabbed my hand.

"This is nice" I smiled.

A nice lady secured our seat belts and after a minute, the ride started, we slowly moved to the top of the ride, I had a feeling the trip down was going to be crazy.

And it was crazy! It was insane! Misty shouted the whole way down, I couldn't help but laugh at her, she was shouting in such a funny way. After three laps around the course, we finally hopped out.

"Man! That was awesome!" Gary approached us, still all smiles.

"My hair!" Misty exclaimed after taking her purse and watching herself in a mirror.

"Let's do it again!" Gary exclaimed running so fast before we could say yes or no.

"I won't do it again, I have to fix this" she took a brush from her purse "don't mind me, go with him" Misty laughed a little.

"He's behaving like a little kid today."

"Yeah, but it's nice, y'know? He deserves this" Misty said a bit emotional.

"Are you going to cry? Wow!" I teased.

"Stop it! Now go before he hurts himself or something" she laughed.

"C'mon guys!" he shouted from the other side, already in line.

"Wish me luck!" I exclaimed giving her a quick kiss.

"Good luck!" she took a seat on a bench nearby trying to comb her hair and make it look as radiant as it was before, I didn't mind how she looked anyway but well, Misty cared a lot about her looks.

I made my way behind Gary, hoping nobody would get angry or something for skipping places in line, but then again there wasn't many people around and I thought everyone in line to that moment would get a place in the next ride.

"You've been very…" I made a pause trying to choose the correct words "hyperactive today" I finally told Gary, behind him.

"I'm so excited, Ash will be arriving to Alola any minute now and he promised he would call me!" Gary shouted like he had a caffeine excess in his blood, an adorable excess of caffeine in his blood.

So, that was it, he was hiding his nervousness behind all that excitement.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, you don't need to hide your nervousness from us like that" I laughed a little.

"Huh?" he blushed.

"Never mind, let's go, champ!" we walked and took the back seats.

"I've always wondered what feels better, being in the first line or being in the last line" he commented as we secured our seat belts.

"I feel more adrenaline in the back seats" I said.

"I knew it! That's why I love sitting in the back so much!" he said all enthusiasm again.

It was nice for once to see Gary this excited, even if it was a little annoying at times, he was my best friend and I still loved him. He shouted even more than Misty, but I could tell he wasn't scared, he was just releasing his nervousness in the form of shouting.

"That was fierce!" he said after we got out and walked towards Misty, whose hair now seemed just as before we took the first ride, or even better.

"Do you guys want to eat something? I'm very hungry" Misty said giving us our wallets, she had kept them in her purse before we took the ride the first time.

"Sure!" Gary kinda jumped in excitement.

"By the way, Gary, why do you have a condom in your wallet?" she teased.

"Wha… what?" his jab dropped to the floor and his face was left speechless.

"The question here is… is it for you? Or for Ash?" I joined the teasing party.

"Shut up!" his face was red and he left very fast.

"I think that'll calm him down for the rest of the night" Misty laughed.

"Good work, baby!" I laughed and we kissed again.

When we left the roller coaster area, we saw Gary sitting on a bench, he wasn't sad but he was covering his face with his hands, we knew he wasn't crying, he was just embarrassed hiding his obviously red skin.

"Let's go, man" I put my hand on his shoulder, he still didn't stand up nor look at us.

"We were joking, Gary, we're sorry if we offended you or something" Misty added after me.

Gary put his hands to his sides but he was still not looking at us.

"You know what? We'll buy you dinner, to show you how sorry we are" I said.

"Guys, it's just that…" he sighed and he finally looked at us, then he smiled "what if… what if we…"

"Enough! We're going to eat dinner and you're going to receive a call from Ash before we eat dessert" Misty grabbed him from his hand and she walked him to the nearest food place in the fair.

"Oh… okay" he laughed, now feeling more relaxed.

I followed them and we ate boneless BBQ chicken wings with fries.

Sure, after we ordered a cheesecake for dessert, Gary got a call. Was Misty a fortune-teller or something like that?

"It's him!" he sounded overexcited.

"Go ahead" I said, knowing he would need some privacy.

"Thanks!" he left to the bathroom area as he answered the phone "Hi, Ashy-boy!" he said with a lot of excitement and that was all we could hear for the moment.

"Ah, young love" Misty whispered.

"We're not that old" I said a little offended by her comment.

"You know what I'm talking about" she held my hand.

I smiled back "So, how was your day?" I asked her primarily wondering why she had miss the 4:00pm bus.

"Pretty amazing since I arrived to Pallet, I've quite enjoyed the evening with you guys" she smiled, not telling me anything of what I really wanted to know, still, I didn't let that bother me, maybe I was just making things up in my mind "what about you?"

I wanted to tell her about the museum but I wanted to tell Gary first, because he was the one who had sent my work to them in the first place.

"A little boring before you got here."

"I don't believe you, you got to hear Gary's full version of the story, didn't you?" she laughed, I knew she was jealous but well, there were some benefits of being Gary's best friend, now weren't there?

I smiled as I took a sip of my coke.

"Omigod! Who topped?" she asked unexpectedly.

I almost spilled my coke on her, not only because of the audacity of the question but also because she knew that kind of vocabulary Gary had just explained to me earlier in the day.

"Misty! That's private! It's their privacy!" I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Oh my God! It was Ash, right?" she looked shocked.

"I didn't say that!" my voice felt weak.

"Oh God!" her eyes stood on our cheesecake as it arrived.

"Is something wrong about the cake?" the waiter asked worried.

"Oh, nothing! Just something we're talking about" Misty said embarrassed and the waiter then left "I'll never see Gary the same way again!" she exclaimed very surprised.

"I didn't say anything!" I told her again but she seemed to ignore me.

Just for the record, I won't say it, neither to you nor to Misty, it's just none your damn business, people!

"Can we talk about something else, really?" I asked her a little embarrassed.

"Fair enough" she laughed.

We talked for about thirty minutes before Gary finally decided to show up again at the table.

"Finally, I was worried you were heading to the airport to take a plane to Alola" Misty said.

"Believe me, I would do it without hesitation" Gary said sitting "hey! You didn't leave me any cheesecake!"

"We just ordered another a couple of minutes ago, don't worry" Misty clarified.

"How is Ash? How is Alola?" I asked curious.

Gary smiled and told us everything (well, mostly everything) he and Ash had spoken on the phone. Gary was so excited to tell us Ash's experience, he even seemed proud to be the one connecting Misty and I to Ash.

Sure, the cheesecake arrived and Gary ate it all without offering us a piece (not that Misty and I wanted more, we were full).

"I'm happy things are going well" Misty smiled taking Gary's hand.

"Me too" I did the same.

"Thank you, guys" he blushed.

We got back to the Oak's Manor around midnight. We decided to walk as the fair was about 8 blocks away from the manor, not that far.

As we approached the manor, we saw a figure sitting by the entrance, with two suitcases (or what it seemed like that).

"Who is that?" Misty asked, curious.

We finally walked close enough to see it was a girl. A tall, brown-and-short-haired, wearing a pink hat girl. She was beautiful (she really was, don't get me wrong, I still loved Misty) and she seemed like a nice person.

"Oh, thank God!" she sounded relieved to see us get closer she realized we lived there in the manor.

She stood up, leaving her suitcases behind.

"Um… and you are?" Gary asked confused.

Just as Gary asked that question, I don't know why I looked up at the sky: not even a sign of a storm coming… I was thinking about the Absol I had seen earlier… so, the weather seemed to be normal… but Absol was not only related to weather changes… it was related to bad luck… and I had a terrible bad feeling about that girl, a feeling of bad luck… of misfortune.

I looked at her again as she was going to answer Gary's question. For some reason, she seemed so familiar but I was sure this was the first time I had ever seen her.

"Sorry, my name is Serena and I'm looking for Gary Oak" she smiled at us.


	4. Chapter 4

**Interruption – Chapter 4**

Serena? I couldn't have heard her name wrong… this girl… she was the girl who had kissed Ash when he left Kalos… the girl whose name and story about the kiss made Gary leave dinner so abruptly days ago… what in the world was she doing here? What the hell did she want from Gary? Nothing made sense. I suddenly worried about Gary… he definitely had to remember that girl's name.

Gary walked past that girl, opened the door to the mansion and slammed the door against us, leaving us outside (I still had a key, don't worry) but his leaving had been as abrupt as the one he had made during dinner that time. I wanted to run behind him, I knew he needed me, I don't know how her presence here would affect him but I had a feeling it would not suit him well, that somehow, he was crying, wondering the same things I was, but I couldn't just leave that girl alone, it was past midnight and she clearly didn't have a place to stay.

"Did I say something wrong?" Serena looked at Misty and I with concern on her face.

I didn't know what to say, that's where Misty came to help me.

"He and I had a fight moments ago, he was just angry at me but it seems like he's taking his anger on everyone too, sorry you had to see that" Misty said, not the best excuse for Gary's reputation but still, it was better than saying nothing.

"I'm Tracey" I smiled, trying to ease things.

"And I'm Misty."

"So… I guess that guy was Gary, huh?" she sighed "maybe I didn't come at the right time."

"Why don't you come in? It's starting to get cold in here" I had to invite her to come in, what else was I supposed to do? Then again, I knew Gary would not like her being in the manor.

"Thank you so much" she seemed relieved to hear me invite her which clearly proved she had no place to stay the night, I remember Ash told us she was going to go to Hoenn, was she making a small stop here in Kanto? Did she come to find Ash? But she said she wanted to see Gary, my head was going to explode if she didn't tell us why she was here.

I know this might sound selfish from me, but damn I was sure I wasn't going to watch Resident Evil 4 that night.

"I'll help you with your luggage" I said after opening the door to the manor. I took her suitcases, they weren't that heavy as I had expected, and I got in. Misty and Serena entered after me and Misty closed the door behind them.

"Woah! This place is huge! And so elegant!" Serena said looking around the living room, she was astonished and well, who wouldn't? The Oak Manor was an amazing place to be.

"Would you like something to drink?" I asked her leaving her suitcases near the stairs.

"Just some water, please" she smiled.

"Let's take a seat, shall we?" Misty invited her to the living room and they seated in the big sofa.

I got back from the kitchen and gave Serena a glass of water. Then I took a seat in the small sofa in front of them. There was a small silence after that.

"I guess I have to explain myself, right?" Serena smiled weakly.

"We're all-ears" Misty said in a friendly voice to not sound like we were forcing her to speak.

"I guess you have no idea who I am, I should start right there…" she was nervous and we didn't tell her we knew her by name because then we would have to bring the story about the kiss which was buried now because Ash was dating Gary, and well, we didn't want to give the girl falsas esperanzas (is it bad that Christina Aguilera's song came into my mind just then, I meant false hopes anyway).

She hesitated for a moment before she went on.

"Do you guys know Ash Ketchum? If you do, then my story is going to be easier to tell."

"Yeah, we actually traveled with him to the Orange Islands like three years ago" Misty said, there was more to that but it was enough for Serena to know that we knew Ash.

"You guys did?" she sounded surprised.

"Yeah" I smiled.

"That's cool! I was one of his companions in Kalos" she revealed.

"Oh! Go ahead" Misty smiled.

"So… this means you didn't get to see Ash when he came back from the Kalos League, did you?" she expected a no for an answer because if it was a yes, then it would mean that Ash hadn't told us anything about her and well, she kinda expected to be mentioned by Ash in his coming home story, especially the kiss part… I knew I was going to lie but it was for the best, wasn't it?

"Not really, we're not from Pallet Town, I mean, I live here but I'm from the Orange Islands."

"And I'm from Cerulean City" Misty added.

"Yeah… Ash told me he was going to stay here for around 2 days and then he would leave for Alola" she commented.

Then why was she here? She clearly hadn't come to see Ash. Why did she need to see Gary?

"Well, I needed to come here before heading to Hoenn, I'm trying to be a pokémon coordinator there…"

"That's cool, just like May" Misty interrupted.

"May, I think Ash mentioned her a couple of times" Serena thought.

"And he didn't mention either one of us?" Misty asked, clearly disappointed.

Serena understood Misty's tone "I… I have a bad memory, I really don't remember" she gave us a forced smile.

"Don't worry, go on" I insisted.

She thought for another couple of seconds before continuing.

"I came here for Gary's advice. Ash mentioned him a couple of times too, he said Gary was his oldest friend, from his childhood… and stuff" she sighed taking a sip of water "he also said that his best friend was this guy named Brock and he was my first option but I don't really remember where Ash said Brock was from and when he mentioned Gary, he said he was from Pallet Town too and that he was the grandson of professor Oak… so I took a chance and decided to come here and see Gary" she was trembling, nervous.

"You need Gary's advice? For what?" I asked curious but I had already an answer in mind, I just needed her to corroborate it.

She remained silent for more seconds this time but she finally spoke up. She didn't look at us, instead she had a look to her glass of water.

"I… I am in… in love with Ash… and I thought… Gary would… that he would help me" she finally said.

I didn't know what to say and Misty didn't either, she didn't save me this time.

Neither Misty nor I acted with surprise, we both knew that, and I know Serena was looking for some reactions like _"Oh my God!"_ or _"I can't believe it!"_ or _"Ash is so lucky that a girl like you fell in love with him"_ and we both knew we looked like cold-people, like someone had died, because we took her confession as something… I don't know… sad.

"I… I don't think Gary could help you with that" I finally said and Misty gave me a concerned look, like " _What the hell are you going to do?"_

Don't worry, I wasn't going to tell her Gary and Ash were dating.

"He can't?" Serena faced us holding back her tears.

"It's just that he and Ash aren't really that close now… they… they haven't seen each other in a very long time" Misty intervened and saved me.

"Oh!" she stared to the chimney and I faced Misty, worried, then I faced to the stairs and saw Gary emerged from the darkness, then he faced us with a look that said " _What the hell?"_ and he quickly disappeared.

"I need to go check something upstairs, feel comfortable with Misty, Serena" I smiled but she didn't turn to face me or say something.

Misty understood and I made my way to Gary's room. He had the door locked, something he rarely did. I knocked and he opened, now I could see his eyes, they were red, like he had dried them after crying a lot.

"Why the hell is she in my house?" Gary slammed the door behind me. He clearly didn't listen to anything Serena had told us by then.

"Gary… please…" I said as I took a seat on the bed.

"Why did you let her in?!" he shouted looking at me with anger "I know I told you that you can have people over but I primarily meant Misty, not strangers like that girl!" he screamed crying more, his voice weakling.

"Hey" I said walking to him and I gave him a hug, he received it well and he kept crying on my shoulder.

"I… I didn't do anything bad, did I?" he said in tears, still hugging me.

"No! Of course not! You did nothing bad!" I rubbed his back.

"Then why do I feel this bad? Like… guilty" he sighed.

I didn't know how to answer, I knew Gary had done nothing wrong but I couldn't find the right words to say at that moment. My silence didn't help him at all when he got away from my arms.

"I love him, Tracey, I love him" he covered his face with his hands.

"I know, Gary, that's very clear to me" I smiled trying to relax him but it didn't work.

"She's in love with him too, isn't she?"

I didn't answer and he took my silence as an affirmative one.

"And she has no idea that Ash is with me right now" he said walking to the door and pushing his back against it, slowly falling until he was sitting on the floor.

"She's not in love with him, she… she just has a crush on him and that's very different, she likes him yeah but she doesn't love him. Her feelings are not as strong as yours… this is not a competition, Gary… the most important thing here is that Ash loves you, not her" I said softly, sitting in front of him and grabbing his hands.

He stopped crying but a smile didn't appear on his face. He didn't look at me either.

"Hey, it's going to be alright, trust me" I took his chin and make him look at me "I'll ask her to leave, I'll take her to Viridian City and pay her a night in a hotel if that makes you feel better" I smiled "I'm sure she has a flight to leave tomorrow or during the next days, she said she's going to Hoenn and that she just made a small stop here" I informed trying to relax him but again, it didn't seem to work.

"Why the hell does she want to see me? Why me?" he asked ignoring my suggestion for the moment.

I couldn't lie to Gary "she… she thought you'd help her… to…" words couldn't come out of my lips.

"To get to Ash?" he looked at me, devastated.

"She has no idea that…"

"I know she has no idea that I'm Ash's boyfriend!" he was upset.

"Please, calm down, Gary" I took his arms with my hands.

"I'm a horrible person, aren't I?" he looked at me with the saddest face I'd ever seen on him.

"Don't you dare say that again! Ever!" I shouted to him, holding my tears "you did nothing wrong! Ash and she weren't dating, they didn't even kiss on the lips! You have to understand that!" I shouted more, knowing he was worried about exactly those things.

And then he cried more, I didn't know if it was because I had been mean shouting at him like that.

"I'm sorry" I sighed grabbing him in my arms and hugging him, his head rested on my shoulder.

Gary didn't say anything more, he wasn't asleep, he was just silent.

I helped him get up and he sat on his bed.

"I'll take her to the hotel in Viridian, you need to rest and forget about this, okay?"

I walked to the door, decided to leave but then he said something.

"… wait! It's too late, just…" he sighed "just give her a room far away from mine and I'll talk to her myself tomorrow" he put his hands over his forehead like he had a headache.

"You sure about this?" I wanted to tell him it was a mistake, that he didn't need to talk to her, but I respected his will to do what he thought was right, so I shut up.

"Yeah, I'll just think things in my sleep"

"Okay" I nodded, he needed support and as his best friend, hell yeah I was going to give support to him.

He stood up, walked towards me and gave me another hug and I received him well into my arms. He didn't cry this time but he was still worried.

"Do you want some hot milk? I can go to the kitchen, heat it and bring it, it will help you fall asleep easier" I suggested.

"Nah, I'm fine, I'll just take a hot shower"

I walked to the door and after I opened it, I turned to him again and he said "thank you for being my best friend, Tracey" he then smiled holding back his tears.

"You're very welcome" I smiled.

His smiled lasted at least until he was out of my sight. Then I went downstairs to talk to Serena and Misty.


	5. Chapter 5

**Interruption – Chapter 5**

I can't tell what time it is right now, but after a difficult evening, I'm finally relaxing in my bedroom. Misty is lying next to me, under the sheets, she's hugging me, resting her head over my upper chest. We're both awake, I'm not even sleepy, I guess she isn't either. We remain in silence for a few comfortable minutes until we feel the urge to talk about what had just happened when we got back from the fair, now that there's just the two of us.

"Is he alright?" she asked me, about Gary of course. I look at the ceiling and she looks away to the window as we speak.

"I know he will be… he's just having a hard time digesting all this" I said touching her hair.

"I know her intentions are pure… but why did she have to come right now? Gary and Ash are just starting their relationship and not in the best situation, not the easiest for both of them… she… she is just destroying their happiness" Misty said with a lot of concern, she just cared for Ash and Gary as much as I did.

"I know…" I sighed "I mean… it's not her fault either but… man! I'm glad things weren't that difficult between us" I laughed a bit, knowing that making a joke wasn't appropriate for the situation but we could really use the laughter for a moment.

And she did laugh, giving me a slight pinch in my chest after that.

"Hey!" I felt exposed, yet I laughed even more "he said he's going to talk to her tomorrow."

I knew she was surprised to hear me say that, even if I didn't look at her face directly "What do you think he's going to talk to her about?" Misty returned to the serious tone she had had before.

"I honestly have no idea, he may be my best friend but 90% of the time I don't really know what he is thinking or what he is going to do" I sighed, not sad, I found that somehow… interesting, because I got to know Gary more day by day.

"I'll just stay until he feels better, he needs us both right now" she said holding my hand.

"Yeah… besides, I could really use this every night" I joked, talking about us in bed, under the sheets of course.

"Tracey!" she blushed.

I gave her a kiss on her hair and I hugged her. I closed my eyes, and we fell asleep in that same position.

When morning came, she was still lying her head on my chest. I had to go to meet Lina (the museologist who wanted to create an exhibition of my pokémon drawings in the Viridian City Museum, in case you had forgotten between all this drama). The clock said 8:00am, the museum opened at 10:00am. Misty looked like she was going to sleep a couple of hours more, so I made my way out of the bed without waking her up, it was difficult but I finally managed to put her head over a pillow (maybe it wasn't as comfortable as my bare chest but she would rest peacefully).

I got dressed and went straight to the kitchen, I was going to make some breakfast but my plans were kinda ruined when I saw Serena making pancakes.

"Hi!" she exclaimed a bit nervous "I hope you don't mind me using the kitchen, I just… I just wanted to do something to thank you for letting me stay the night."

Despite how much I loved making breakfast and how she was complicating my best friend's life, I couldn't be mad at her, she was a nice person.

"Don't worry" I smiled taking a seat in the small table in the kitchen (which wasn't as big as the table from the dining room but we usually ate breakfast in the kitchen anyway).

"How would you like your pancakes?" she asked me with a smile.

"How?" I asked curious to hear the options.

"Well, there's strawberries, cream cheese, maple syrup, banana, honey, oats and blackberries."

"Wow!" I was seriously amazed "cream cheese and strawberries would be nice" I decided.

"How many?"

"Just three."

"Coming right up!" she exclaimed preparing them and serving them on a plate, putting them in front of me, they looked so professional, like they would look in the cover of a cooking magazine.

"Thanks!" I exclaimed.

"I made some banana milkshake, or would you prefer some coffee?"

"The milkshake sounds good" I smiled.

She gave me a glass of that milkshake and I felt somehow guilty to eat the pancakes and drink the milkshake and find out everything was pure delicious.

When Serena finished making the pancakes, she took a seat in front of me. Her pancakes had honey and blackberries on them. She also had a glass of milkshake.

"Did I make breakfast a little too early?" she asked me, wondering why Misty and Gary hadn't shown up already.

"Misty and I went to sleep really late and I didn't want to wake her up, it looked like she needed more sleep" I realized I hadn't properly introduced Misty as my girlfriend but surely Serena had figured it out by then.

"What about Gary?" she asked me taking a bite of her pancakes.

"It smells good, really good!" Misty joined us.

"Hi! How would you like your pancakes?" Serena said excited and Misty sat down next to me.

We talked more before it was 9:00am, I had to take a shower and get more properly dressed before going to the museum. I had to leave the manor around 9:30am if I wanted to be there in time.

I left Misty and Serena alone and walked to my room. I felt like I had to go check on Gary but I thought he'd be fine. I took a shower, put on something formal (not a suit, just some slacks, shoes, and a fancy sweater) and I went downstairs. I had all my notebooks inside a briefcase I had borrowed from professor Oak.

"How handsome!" Misty exclaimed from the living room where she and Serena were talking.

"Oh, please" I blushed.

"Where are you going?" Misty asked me with confusion on her face, I still hadn't told her anything yet.

I was so nervous, what if things didn't work out with Lina? I didn't want to excite Misty for nothing, but another side of me wanted her to come with me (then I realized it was too late to ask her that).

So, I had to lie for the meantime.

"Let's say… it's a surprise" I didn't come up with anything else.

"Oh! Mystery! I love it!" Misty exclaimed surprisingly excited "let's just say that the time of the day helps you, if it was the evening and you told me that, I'd expect you'd be cheating on me or something" she laughed.

I gave her a friendly smile, walked towards her, and gave her a kiss goodbye. When I was out of the manor, Misty came to me, I guess she needed to say something in private.

"What about that girl?" she asked me, worried.

"Gary said he was going to talk to her, remember… just… keep her busy until he wakes up… or until he decides to come down."

"Alright, good luck on whatever you're going to do!" she hugged me.

"Thanks! I really need it, I promise to tell you all the details when I get back."

"No problem, I know it must be something huge and you don't want to give me falsas esperanzas" yeah, it was thanks to her that I had listened to that Christina's song in the first place (by the way, I loved Misty's Spanish accent).

I laughed and walked to the street, making my way to the bus station.

I arrived fashionably late at the museum, it was around 10:20am, yet I didn't let that thing bother me.

"Hi, my name is Tracey Sketchit and I'm here to see Miss Lina Hudson, I know I don't have an appointment but she sent me a letter yesterday and she told me I could show up anytime" I was nervous.

"Just give me a second, Mister Sketchit" the lady in the reception said with a friendly smile.

She made a call to Lina's office and sure, seconds after, she told me I could come in. She guided me to her office herself.

When she left and I was alone, I took a deep breath, this meeting could change the course of my career, not that I was pursuing a career in becoming an artist but this exhibition might create me a name, show my work to the whole work, well, at least to Viridian City. Before I knocked the door, I decided it was best to turn off my cellphone.

I knocked the door and I heard her voice say "Come in."

As I opened the door I finally caught a glimpse of her. Before, I didn't know how she looked like, my thoughts were that she was this old woman, friendly and very classy but Lina wasn't that old, she was around thirty, she was blond and well, she still seemed friendly and classy.

"Please, take a seat, Mr. Sketchit" she said standing up and offering me to seat in front of her desk.

Her office had a strong atmosphere, and it was logical, you could tell she was the most powerful woman in the museum because, well, she designed the exhibitions and pretty much everything the museum was about.

"Good morning, Miss Hudson" I smile stretching my hand.

"Cut the formalities, Tracey, can I call you Tracey?" she asked stretching my hand and taking a seat.

"Sure!" I felt calmer then.

"Then, call me Lina" she smiled.

Lina was extremely friendly with me, it seemed like we had talked about hours, time had no course in that office. She saw all my drawings and she did take her time appreciating every single piece, making observations about all of them that I registered in a small notebook (from the museum gift shop) she gave me.

"Well, Tracey" she said closing the last of my notebooks and putting it over the others "I think we can create something amazing with your work here."

I blushed, she did appreciate my work.

She then shared her ideas for the exhibition "I want to place your drawings along the halls of the museum, that way the visitors don't really have to visit a specific area to see your work, and I personally believe that they will love your work so much that they will finally have an excuse to take a tour around the whole museum" her eyes did sparkle when she said this and I blushed even more.

It all seemed so perfect but… there had to be something, I don't know, I was a realist by nature and this all seemed so optimistic.

"The only thing" she smiled, there was it, she was going to tell me something I wasn't going to like "is that you'll have to be coming a lot, it doesn't take a day to design an exhibition and I would like that you and I work together on this" that didn't sound so bad, was it the bad part I was expecting? It wasn't bad at all!

She then preceded "Can you start coming tomorrow? What if we say we work on this from Tuesday to Friday, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm? I think it will take us less than a month before we can finally open your exhibition to the public" she sounded very excited.

The schedule wasn't that ideal but I couldn't say no to Lina.

"Yes!" I couldn't hold my emotion.

She laughed friendly and she took out some papers.

"Here is the contract, it doesn't say much, take your time to read it and bring it back tomorrow, signed of course. And here's a paycheck of your first advance, the museum has decided to give you 25% right now, 25% in 2 weeks and the other 50% the day we open the exhibition" she gave me the contract and the check and I had to see how much money they were going to pay me, she didn't say anything about money or a discussion on the salary but then again, I hadn't thought about money at all because well, I thought the museum was doing me a favor by showing my work.

Sure, it wasn't that big amount of money, but it was enough for me to be happy about the decision I had just made.

"Thank you so much, Lina" I smiled.

She escorted me to the exit of the museum herself and we stretched hands once again before me leaving.

"I'll wait for you tomorrow, Tracey."

"Count on me, Lina" I smiled.

As I got out of the museum I took another deep breath, man! It felt good! Really good! My life was now more perfect than I had expected yesterday.

I took out my cellphone, turned it on and I saw it was already past 2:00pm, had I just spent 4 hours with Lina? I told you time didn't seem to go on inside her office. But my happiness faded away the moment I saw 19 missing calls from Misty and several messages pop up into my phone screen.

Just as I was about to begin reading the messages, something inside me told me that this was somehow related to the Absol I had seen the day before.

Misty – 12:07pm

 _He just asked her to talk. I'm nervous, Tracey. Is there a chance you can come right now?_

Misty – 12:10pm

 _They went to professor Oak's lab for more privacy. I'm here outside trying to hear what they're saying but their voices aren't that loud._

Misty – 12:12pm

 _It's been quiet for the last 2 minutes, is one of them crying?_

Misty – 12:13pm

 _Tracey! Answer your phone!_

Misty – 12:14pm

 _I can't deal with this by myself, please call me back!_

Misty – 12:15pm

 _Where are you? This is going insane! I need you Tracey! Now!_

Misty – 12:16pm

 _This is a disaster, Tracey, he told her! She knows!_

Misty – 12:17pm

 _I can't open the door, Tracey! I don't know how this is going to end! Please come back, now!_

Misty – 12:18pm

 _Tracey, please! I have a terrible bad feeling about this. We need you!_

Misty – 12:19pm

 _WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?! I'M DESPERATE!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Interruption – Chapter 6**

I blame myself for this, I blame myself for everything! I shouldn't have turned off my cellphone, I shouldn't have gone to the museum without checking on Gary first, I shouldn't have gone out of the manor to see that Absol! I shouldn't have! I shouldn't have!

I feel terrible, I feel horrible, I feel like an idiot, I am an idiot. I was so selfish, it's just that… I thought Gary would manage to handle the situation on his own but I think I was wrong, so wrong… he was emotionally affected and he needed me there and I left like a coward, it wasn't my intention to leave him alone.

My eyes are flooding with tears and my heart is beating out of my chest, I feel the nerves in my stomach, my head hurts, this is bad.

I have been trying to contact Misty for the last fifteen minutes, I couldn't wait for the next bus to Pallet so I took a cab, it's still another ten-minute ride before I arrive there. What in the world had happened? Misty doesn't answer her phone, now I'm the one desperate to reach her. Had things really turned out that bad? I expected for the worst, being a realist that's all I could think of… the worst.

I try switching my strategy and call Gary's cellphone instead… still I get no answer, why would I? I was his best friend and I wasn't there when he needed me the most. Then I start calling the manor's phone and I'm just as lucky as I've been with Misty and Gary's cellphone: no response.

Damn! Fuck! Fuck damn me! This is all my fault! I'm so mad at myself night now! Fuck! I wish I could throw myself out of the window of this car! Okay, Tracey, calm down! I try to breathe in, breathe out, I try to relax but the tears don't allow my relaxation to come. I tell the driver to drive as fast as possible, I even tell him I'll give him $10 extra dollars and sure, he speeds up.

We arrived to the Oak Manor in five minutes. I give the driver 50 dollars and tell him to keep the change (I ended up giving him $25 extra). I don't care, I storm out of the cab and run towards the door. I open it with my keys and when I enter the manor… something is odd, something is odd in the atmosphere… I feel like I'm in a Resident Evil movie (no joke intended, the atmosphere is so tense in here).

There is nobody in the living room. I run to the dining room: nobody. To the kitchen: nobody. To the backyard: nobody. Then I head into the lab: everything is a mess. There's paper sheets all over the place, my heart beats even faster when I see some beakers and Erlenmeyer flasks shattered all over the floor (they're made of glass in case you don't know). What happened here? I see a table upside down, a chair stuck in a window… my desk moved from its regular place, Gary's laptop completely destroyed in the sink… man, this is bad! Bad, bad, bad!

Where's everyone? I'm starting to tremble; did things get more out of control than what I had expected? Worse than the worst? I grab my hair and try to pull it, I'm so stupid! I get back to the manor and run up the stairs, first I go to the room I gave Serena the night before: it's empty, she left! I run to my room, it's the same as I left it that morning, then I pray for Gary and Misty to be in Gary's room. I go up another set of stairs and feel relieved when I see Misty sitting against the door of Gary's room.

"Misty!" I sighed, running towards her.

"Tracey, thank God you're here!" she quickly got up and hugged me. I could tell from her eyes that she had been crying for a long time.

"What happened, Misty?" I asked her, looking deep into her eyes, she is scared, I can see that "where's Gary? Is he alright? Misty, I feel terrible, I shouldn't have left, I shouldn't have turned my cellphone off, I…" I burst into tears in front of her… she hadn't seen me cry before.

"Hey, hey" she sighed hugging me again "he's… Gary is… he is in his room" she finally revealed "he is physically fine, emotionally… he is shattered" she added, at least I knew he didn't get injured in the disaster I had seen in the lab moments before and that made me feel a little better, still I felt bad, really bad… and guilty.

"Gary! Please, open the door!" I tried opening the door but it was closed. I'm desperate "Gary, please!"

"He's not answering, I've been here for more than an hour, I couldn't get to him before he locked himself up" Misty said pushing her back against the door and slowly going down until she was sitting on the floor.

"Gary! Open the door, please! It's Tracey!" I shouted, knocking as strongly as I could but there wasn't any answer from inside.

Misty put her head between her knees and started crying again. I want her to tell me what happened but I'm desperate to see how Gary is first.

"Professor Oak has a master key to all the bedrooms!" I exclaimed running back to professor Oak's room, hoping the door was unlocked, and thankfully it was. I took the key from his nightstand and ran back to Gary's room.

Misty got up and stood behind me. I quickly opened the door and Gary wasn't there.

"Oh my God!" Misty exclaimed seeing the window open, he couldn't have jumped, it was a three-floor fall! She ran towards the window and thankfully she told me he wasn't down there.

That's when I heard the shower, Gary was in the bathroom! I opened the door, thank goodness it wasn't locked.

"Gary!" I shouted in fear running to the shower, I opened the shower curtains and I saw him lying on the floor, the warm water falling over him. He was wearing all his clothes. I got inside and grabbed him in my arms, I didn't care I was going to get wet and ruin my fancy sweater "Gary!" I exclaimed crying, seeing him not reacting. His face wasn't pale, there weren't any bad signs on it, just his lower eyelids, they were dark, showing he had been crying a lot.

"Oh God!" Misty shouted in fear behind me.

Thanks to all heavens, he was just sleeping, he opened his eyes slowly.

"Gary!" I exclaimed hugging him letting him lay his head on my shoulder.

I cried, I cried and I cried. Gary was fine thanks to God!

Misty came to close the shower valve as Gary became conscious. He grabbed my back harder this time, he still had to cry, I knew he needed to tell me everything, and I was going to be there for him this time.

"I didn't mean to hurt her… I… I…" he said weakly and I held even more strongly to him from then on.

I saw Misty give me a half-smile, she knew Gary and I needed to be alone, I nodded and saw her leave.

He didn't say anything for a long time, we just stood there, in the shower floor, I wasn't going to force him to speak, I wanted him to start talking when he felt comfortable. Twenty minutes passed until he finally pulled away from my embrace and rested his back against the wet wall. He was in front of me, facing me with sadness in his eyes.

I didn't want the whole story on the disaster in the lab, I just wanted to know how he was feeling and if he would be alright.

"I told her… I told her, Tracey… I…" his voice was weak and he was shivering despite the hot steam in the room.

I remained silent, but I nodded when I thought appropriate to show Gary I was listening.

"She… she was so hurt… she… she suddenly started to throw things at me back in the lab, I tried to calm her down… but she just got… madder and angrier at me… I… I…" he was scared, experiencing again that moment in his memory "she said things to me… mean things… but they were true… Tracey… I knew Ash felt something for her and… and I… I was so selfish that I still… I…" he couldn't say anything more, he was devastated.

I got closer to him, I took his arms and I finally spoke up.

"Listen to me" I sighed and he faced me eyes to eyes "and please, you have to believe me… I'm not only saying this just because you're my best friend… and I'm not going to say anything about her because I'm no person to judge her reaction and the things she did… I'm going to speak for you, because I care for you, Gary…" I held back all my tears, I needed to be strong this time "you love Ash" I smiled a little "love… love is such a pure emotion, an amazing feeling, so beautiful… you love, Gary, in such a way that… a way that is so precious, so genuine, and you've felt that for a very long time… you deserve, my friend, you deserve to be happy, because you're… because you're…" I couldn't hold them more, sorry "you're the most wonderful person I've ever had the chance to meet… I feel so lucky to call you my best friend… you may think you're hard to understand sometimes… and that may be a little truth" I laughed a bit and he smiled behind all his tears "but once people understand you, they see the real you, the most beautiful person on Earth… Gary… you would never… you would never do anything bad if you are yourself… so, don't feel bad, nothing is your fault, please…" I sighed and covered my face of embarrassment, this had just been the most personal moment we had shared until then (and don't get me started into thinking of what I was going to say on my speech as his best man in his wedding day).

He was all smiles now, maybe not that happy as the ones he was giving me the day before after he got back from leaving Ash in the port, but they were smiles at least, there was some sort of happiness inside them, happiness that was going to bloom eventually.

We stood there in silence for some more time, he didn't need to reply anything to what I had said… his smile told me everything was right, and that everything was going to be alright… we even saw my movie that night, with Misty, at last.

* * *

 _One month later_

We're finally here! It's the opening night of my pokémon drawings exhibition in the Viridian City Museum. It's a very elegant event (we're all dressed in formal), only opened to special guests. The exhibition will open to the public first hour tomorrow. The place feels nice, all the rooms of the museum are closed with red curtains, except for the lobby and the halls where all my work is displayed.

There is about 50 different people here, including me, Misty, Gary and surprisingly Ash, who took his time to come here for today, he got here first hour in the morning and spent all day with Gary (I can't blame them, it's the first time they're together since Ash left to Alola, he still has no idea about what happened between Gary and Serena… and I think it's best to keep that from him, maybe it's for the best, still, I wonder how she is doing… she wasn't guilty of anything, she just… she was just mistaken).

We're drinking some champagne (I told you it was an elegant event) when Lina approaches us. She's been quite busy since we cut the ribbon to open the exhibition, everyone is currently exploring the halls, watching my work, while Misty, Gary and Ash opted to wait until the place was less crowded.

"Guys, this is Lina, the woman who made all this possible" I smile introducing her to everyone (I see a little bit of jealousy in Misty's face but she quickly understands I only love her, besides Lina is 15 years older than me).

"Nice to meet you all" Lina smiles gently stretching Misty, Gary, and Ash's hands.

Surprisingly Gary says something and he and Lina hit it off instantly, now I see a bit of jealousy in Ash's eyes. Gary and Lina go to the food table and ask us if we want something.

"Oh, some more of these little sandwiches, they're amazing!" Misty exclaims.

Misty and I are finally alone with Ash for a few moments.

"How are things going?" Misty asks curiously, she doesn't need to address what things, Ash knows where the question is headed.

Ash smiles and sighs "Pretty awesome" he looks at Gary to the distance, picking up some sandwiches for Misty as Lina keeps laughing (maybe she's a bit drunk).

"I just need to know something" Misty says a little nervous and then whispers something into Ash's ear, something I cannot hear.

"What? Misty!" he blushes and starts trembling.

I instantly know what she asked him.

"Leave him alone, Mis!" I exclaimed laughing.

Lina and Gary return with some more food and put it on the small tall table in front of us.

"I have to leave, don't worry, Tracey, you'll be fine without me, try walking through the halls, I'm sure people will want to ask you some questions about your drawing" Lina smiles and says goodbye with a kiss on the air.

"See you tomorrow?" I ask her.

"Sure!" she smiles and leaves.

When she is finally out of sight, Gary keeps the conversation going as Ash holds his hand and rest his head on Gary's shoulder.

"She has a date and she is very nervous, it's this guy she met at the gym, she says there's a lot of potential in him" Gary reveals.

"What? She told you that? I've been working with her for a month and she never told me anything personal and you have just met her and it took her less than two minutes to tell you that?" I am shocked but I can't contain my laugh.

Everyone laughs at my exaggeration.

"Well, guys, I think I'll do what Lina told me, wish me luck!" I say nervous drinking all there is left in my glass of champagne.

Misty gets closer to me and gives me a kiss on the lips "I'll go with you" she holds my hand.

"We'll just stay here a few more minutes and then we'll join you" Ash says.

"Thanks, guys" I smile as I walk with Misty to the nearest hall, now that I think about it, my exhibition feels like a maze, you know, being in all the halls of the museum, I love it! Oh, and the golden frames Lina and I chose to hold the drawings are magnificent!

"Mr. Sketchit! Thank goodness, I found you! I am Mr. Day" an old man greets me and suddenly around 4 people get closer to us "what do you see in this Marill's eyes? They are so… captivating and full of meaning" he expresses as everyone around analyzes the drawing of my old-time pokémon friend.

And as I am standing here in my very own exhibition in Viridian City's museum (something I never ever dared to dream), as all these people around us wait for an answer to Mr. Day's question, as I hold Misty's hand and she stands behind me with her face against my back, as I spot Ash and Gary kissing on the distance for a second before they both separate and look all around them and as I wish Lina good luck on her first date with that guy from the gym… I am more aware now than ever that I can't ask for a more perfect life.


End file.
